YMG Capital Classic 2002

It’s usually the first round of a tournament that all of the upsets occur. It can often produce some of the best matches because of the hunger of the lower ranked players and greater pressure placed upon the seeded players who are expected to win. But once the quarter final and semi final begins the history of the match-ups can have more significance than who is more likely to win.

The quarter finals of the YMG Classic begin in a few hours. We’ve spoken to some of the pro players to find out who think is going to win, and what the dynamics of the matches will be. Here are the responses and analysis of what can be expected in each match:

Peter Nicol versus Rodney Durbach

The #1 in the world versus the #33. Most squash fans would simply say that Nicol is moving into the semi finals and that’s the end of that. It won’t be that simple. Firstly Nicol’s well documented ankle injury isn’t a non-factor in this event. In his tough battle against Graham Ryding last night he was apparently in pain and giving his ankle attention between games (I heard second hand). When you watch Peter the most impressive aspect of his game is his relentless retrieval skills. He has incredible court movement and scrambling abilities that place more and more pressure on his opponent. That coupled with his fitness means that as the game progresses his opponent makes more mistakes, and he begins hitting more shots that simply work the other guy out of position. Good movement and fitness is intrinsic to his game.

He was moving well against Ryding last night, but it was hard to say whether he was moving as well as usual or as well as he can. The game that Ryding won was mostly because he hit an amazing number of winners. But there was still plenty of long tough rallies.

Durbach’s strength is ability to volley well, both short and long and when his game is on he can put the ball away from all over the court. Last night he was bouncing around the court like it was a jumping castle. He’s not afraid of playing Nicol (he beat him in 2000) and will believe that he can beat him here, not something you can say from all of the players.

The glass court at the YMG Classic is bouncy and fast, two characteristics that you don’t expect from these type of courts. If Nicol’s ankle is giving him trouble then the longer the match goes on the better it will be for Durbach.

Prediction from the pros: Everyone we asked says a victory to Nicol, except one (and we didn’t ask Durbach!)

Stewart Boswell versus Ong Beng Hee

This could be one of the matches of the night. The last time these two played was in Hong Kong with Boswell eventually winning 17-16 in the fifth with the final point being decided on a let call. Bengy for most of the year hasn’t set the squash world on fire, but he seems to have found his motivation again and will be looking for an upset.

Boswell can be quite an enigma. Off the court he can be reserved and quite, but put a racquet in his hand and surround him with glass walls and he’s ready to dive and lose some skin. His intensity and will to win on court doesn’t come across when you’re talking or having a drink with him.

Bengy has struggled to notch up wins against other players in the top ten. Against Paul Price his game went in waves of great play. He won’t be able to afford a lapse in intensity against Boswell.

Prediction from the pros: Everyone we asked has backed Boswell for this match. But you never know.

Jonathon Power versus Mark Chaloner.

The best prediction we heard about this match was Power winning in three but it taking 99 minutes. Not necessary because of long rallies, but because of stoppages. In January's Memorial US Open semi final between these two there was 86 stops over the course of a 69 minute match. Both of these players don’t mind asking for a let or trying to turn a let position into a stroke. Their matches usually have lots of physical contact and you can guarantee that Power will make a ruckus with the ref. Add the home crowd advantage and it should be an interesting match.

Prediction from the pros: Everyone we asked has backed Power, especially with the home crowd advantage. There’s not many tournaments on the pro circuit where players get home ground advantage. Think about some of the bigger tournaments this year: Qatar Master, Tournament of Champions, Hong Kong Open, US Open. None of these tournaments a top ranked player who is playing at home. It’s wonderful to hear the crowd really getting behind someone and being animated and boisterous.

John White versus Joe Kneipp

This is the only match that is on tonight where people are divided over who is going to win. Whitey is ranked considerably higher than me at 5 compared to my 13. But he is slightly overwhelmed by my dominance in all our card matches and may take that fear on court. We always have great matches and people’s indecisiveness over the victor is probably from a few factors. Firstly Whitey has the ability to dictate whether he wins or loses. If he’s in a nick slapping mode and it’s working then he can beat anyone. His recent victory over Jonathon Power in the quarter finals of Qatar is a great example of that. But when his shots aren’t winning and are hitting the tin instead then his game falls to pieces quickly. We’ve played four times this year (only two in PSA matches) and I’ve won three of them, so we will have to see. But Whitey’s form in the last two tournaments (runner up in South Africa, semi finals in quarter) mean that he is playing great squash.

Prediction from the pros: Divided.

So if you’re reading this and the quarter finals have already finished, it should be interesting to see if the pro players I asked are accurate in their predictions. According to them the semi finals should definitely contain Nicol, Power and Boswell. Possibly White making up the fourth but maybe me. How did they go and who would you predict?